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Charu Chhibber
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 20
With its focus on rolling out several ambitions ventures under the smart city project, including environmental centres, installation of 5,000 CCTV cameras, integrated traffic management and better citizen service delivery through e-governance, the Chandigarh Administration perhaps has forgotten about its government schools, many of which lack even basic facilities like classrooms and benches for students.
One such school Government Middle School, Raipur Kalan. With an enrolment of over 550 students and 19 staff members, the school is not only benchless but even lacks adequate classrooms.
The students sit on the floor, braving the vagaries of weather. Not only that, more than half of the students sit outside as there is acute shortage of classrooms. Classes are suspended when it rains and there is no playground.
For a school that has black rectangles painted on the insides of its boundary walls to serve as blackboards, having computers is a distant dream that the authorities don’t even dare to visualise. Lack of fencing on the boundary walls compromises the security of the children.
The only saving grace perhaps is chairs for teachers and a room for the school head.
A visit to the school reveals rows of students lined up in the corridor right opposite the main gate, attending their class on mats. A tin shed acts as a roof.
Few others are lined up on the left side under a make-shift shed, which has been covered with thick fabric to save children from the harsh winter chill. In summers, the fabric goes, and the children sweat it out under the temporary set up without a fan.
The school has six rooms. The toilets are in poor condition. There is no playground. Students manage to squeeze in the tiny space on to the right of the main entrance to play little games, a space that they happily share with teachers who want to soak up the winter sun during free time. There is no library and almost no extracurricular activities are held in the school.
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